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How amazing is grace?

“My trust in God flows out of the experience of his loving me, day in and day out, whether the day is stormy or fair, whether I’m sick or in good health, whether I’m in a state of grace or disgrace. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.”                 Brennan Manning 

 

Remember how much fun it was to build things as a kid? Maybe you built with an Erector Set or Lincoln Logs or LEGOs. Maybe you built a fort with your friends. Do you remember how proud you were of the accomplishment?  

You’ve heard the Bible story of the Tower of Babel. Mankind conspired together: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4). 

Their aim was to construct, with their own hands, significance and prosperity—to go it alone, without God. As construction began, the Bible records that God took notice. We read: “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building” (Genesis 11:5). 

It’s an interesting observation that mankind was constructing the tallest tower they could, and yet God had to stoop down to see it.  

This is a telling picture of religion. Mankind desires to ascend. We yearn to catch God’s eye, earn His approval and favor, to be noticed in the heavens.  

It’s the offense of the Gospel—the New Testament calls it “a stumbling block”—that we cannot earn salvation. We cannot earn God’s favor. Though we may think very highly of our attempts, Isaiah said, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). 

Thank God for grace! This is how the apostle Paul sums it up in the book of Romans: “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (11:6). It’s by grace we’ve been saved! It’s by God stooping down, meeting us where we are, and loving us as we are. This is why the Gospel is truly Good News. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

We’re saved by grace and we stand in grace: 

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2). 

I want to appreciate, every day, how amazing God’s grace really is! 

 

My prayer this weekHeavenly Father, thank you for your all-sufficient grace—it saves me and sustains me! You know my weaknesses and failures. Without your grace, I can accomplish nothing good for souls, my own or othersPlease grant me your grace in great measure!